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What’s the Matter with Meta?

Written by: Christopher Hulme | 27th January 2025
9 min read

Alongside my role as Business Development Manager, I also provide specialist Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) support to inform our projects and campaign activity at Magpie – with a specific focus on LGBTQ+ key issues, developments and awareness.

We know through our recent campaign ‘Check-in with Pride’, national evidence, and knowledge from research across West Yorkshire, LGBTQ+ people are at greater risk of poor mental wellbeing. Issues such as discrimination, homophobia and transphobia, plus experiences of hate, social isolation and rejection mean that LGBTQ+ people can unfairly experience more mental health challenges. 

2022 YouGov: LGBT+ Britons more likely to report suffering with mental health conditions

LGBT+ Britons are more likely to suffer with mental health conditions such as anxiety, depression and insomnia, a new YouGov survey shows. Over the last 12 months, half of LGBT+ Britons (51%) say they experienced or were diagnosed with a mental health condition, compared to a third of the general population (32%).

Source

Mental health in people with minority sexual orientations: A meta-analysis of population-based studies: Wittgens et al. (2022). Academic meta-analysis (a very robust approach in research):

Integrating the findings of population-based studies conducted over the last 20 years, this meta-analysis found an overall higher risk for mental disorders in sexual minority people compared with heterosexuals. Both lesbian/gay and bisexual people had a higher risk for all examined diagnostic categories than heterosexual people. When comparing bisexual people to lesbian/gay people, bisexual people had a higher risk for depression and suicidality.

Source

2022: Gender-related self-reported mental health inequalities in primary care in England: a cross sectional analysis using the GP Patient Survey

This study shows large gender-related inequalities in self-reported mental health outcomes in England. Given the existence of self-reported unmet mental health needs, it suggests that better health care system inclusivity and health-care professional training are needed, alongside broader improvements in the social and legal environment for transgender, non-binary, and gender diverse people.

Source

As an agency focussed on supporting and uplifting seldom-heard and marginalised communities, the recent changes in the Meta guidelines for acceptable content have not gone unnoticed. This regression in basic rights and respect signals a deeper, more egregious attitude that continues to threaten vulnerable communities as established guidelines are rolled back in favour of a more divisive approach.

On January 7, 2025, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced a complete overhaul of content policies across Meta platforms. These changes include the end of fact-checking, reduced moderation efforts, and a dismantled Hateful Conduct policy that expressly permits abuse against LGBTQ+ people while forbidding the same abuses against all other communities. In the weeks since, Meta has also announced the termination of its broader Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (D,E&I) efforts, further indicating a continued shift from its commitment to inclusivity.

Simon Blake OBE, CEO of Stonewall has commented, raising concerns about these changes:  

As a society, we should be worried about where this could end. These new policy changes could have a frightening impact on LGBTQ+ people, women, people with disabilities and ethnic minorities. A couple of years ago, it would have been unimaginable that Meta, which owns Facebook, Instagram and Threads, would allow people to refer to being LGBTQ+ as a ‘mental illness’ and would let users promote conversion practices designed to ‘cure’ people of their sexuality and/or gender identity. The unimaginable has come to pass.

“Meta’s new guidelines also significantly weaken previous rules on how users are allowed to refer to and compare different protected groups – opening the door for an increase in already prevalent homophobic, racist, ableist and sexist rhetoric.

What we’re seeing now is the result of a long and successful campaign driven by far-right groups to undermine the rights of LGBTQ+ groups on a global scale. And this hate-fuelled campaign is going from strength to strength, preying on legitimate fears for personal safety and the safeguarding of children and young people. The reality is trans people are not the ones jeopardising people’s safety or putting children at risk of harm. At Magpie, our experience in addressing the complex factors that contribute to prejudice, hate or violent behaviour has taught us that there are many important areas to consider. Through projects such as our collaboration on Bradford for Everyone’s Anti-Rumour and Critical Thinking interventions or our national ‘Walk Away’ violence reduction campaign with Police forces across the UK, we know cross-sex hormones and other forms of gender affirmative medical intervention are not to blame.

When working with Bradford for Everyone, we focused on promoting critical thinking and raising awareness of the negative effects of stereotypes, prejudices, and false rumours through innovative, participative actions, while fostering empathy, understanding, and positive social mixing to challenge negative narratives around diversity — these principles come to the forefront in light of Meta’s guidelines.

One might argue this shift on Meta’s behalf was, at least in part, to curry favour with a new US President considered by many to be capricious, and a vocal opponent of anything considered to be ‘the woke left’.

As is often the case, instances of trans-exclusionary behaviour rarely happen in isolation. Just this week, President Donald Trump has begun his new term serving executive orders aimed at erasing transgender and LGBTQ+ individuals from federal recognition and dismantling DEI programmes. 

In a statement from New York LGBT Network, President Dr David Kilmnick notes:

We are outraged by Donald Trump’s cruel and discriminatory executive orders that target transgender individuals, invalidate their existence and dismantle critical diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives. These actions are nothing more than a divisive attempt to marginalise entire communities and roll back decades of progress toward equality. You cannot claim to unite the country while enacting policies designed to erase an entire community.

These executive orders are not about fairness or restoring sanity – they are about cruelty, exclusion, and turning back the clock on civil rights. Parents of trans children are terrified for their kid’s safety, and transgender individuals are left questioning their basic right to exist in this country. These policies are a declaration of war on equality and justice.

Whilst government leaders and billionaires persist in politicising the trans experience and legislating a vulnerable and marginalised community into oblivion, trans and gender non-conforming people continue to pay the price.

Earlier this year, a group of teenagers were sentenced for their attack on a trans teenager. The teenage girl, aged 18, was beaten and stabbed nine times during what she believed to be a social event at a roller disco in North West London. During the attack, they shouted transmisogynistic slurs and later the group boasted about the attack online and posted footage on social media.

The attackers, who pleaded guilty to grievous bodily harm, received sentences of up to eight years. A 17-year-old girl who admitted to robbing the victims’ handbag after the attack has yet to be sentenced. What allegedly earned the victim this horrific and brutal attack? She had been sexually intimate with one of the teens, who had not realised she was transgender. Prior to the attack, the sexual encounter was filmed and uploaded to social media, again without the knowledge or consent of the victim. She survived, and now “live[s] in fear of leaving the house”.  Many others, like Brianna Ghey, have lost their lives as a result of intolerance and violence rooted in transphobia.  

This type of response from the assailants is, unfortunately, not new to many people in the LGBTQ+ community. The ‘gay panic defence’ is a notorious legal defence and victim-blaming strategy used to justify acts of violence perpetrated against queer people based on the claim that an unwanted sexual advance was made by them. This type of narrative, that merely existing as a trans person is a form of deception, puts the LGBTQ+ community in immense danger. It legitimises these kinds of attacks as a form of “revenge” for the wrongs wrought by trans people’s mere presence in public life.

 The sun does not care if you sign an executive order telling it to stop rising each morning. It just continues to rise.

Matt Bernstein, LGBTQ+ Advocate

The connection between the intense media focus on the trans community (rarely with any contribution from actual trans people) and the current rise in homophobia, bi-phobia and transphobia, cannot be understated. This prejudice quickly takes hold, and we need to remember that when we remain complacent about the impacts on a minority group (regardless of whether we’re a part of it), all of our rights are at risk.

In the midst of the current circumstances, our focus at Magpie is to ensure we’re actively safeguarding our colleagues, clients and collaborators. Allyship can’t be put on pause because we like flicking through Instagram.

Three things we can all do right now:

Apply the principles of critical thinking and empathy 

Let’s apply the principles of critical thinking and empathy we championed with Bradford for Everyone to Meta’s new guidelines. Ask yourself: Are Meta’s policies inclusive? Will they contribute to society’s wellbeing or cause harm? Challenge the narratives that undermine diversity and fairness. Together, we must hold platforms accountable to uphold values that foster understanding, equity, and a positive future for all.

Sign the petition to tell Meta to end hate speech and discrimination against LGBTQ+ people

Sign here

Check-in on your own mental wellbeing and the mental wellbeing of those around you

How have you been feeling? If you are concerned for your own or someone else’s wellbeing you can find out more about the support available through Magpie’s ‘Check In With Pride’ campaign here. ‘Check in with Pride’ is part of the award winning check in campaigns from West Yorkshire Health and Care Partnership. As well as providing communication assets, signposting to support and suicide prevention training, the campaign continues to normalise conversations around mental health for the LGBTQ+ community. 

If you’d benefit from advice and support in this area and are keen to ensure your organisation is at the forefront of inclusivity and respect, please get in touch to chat further.

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